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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26973451">Savior's Song</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/madartiste/pseuds/madartiste'>madartiste</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Devil May Cry</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Father-Son Relationship, Fluff, Gen, Original Character Death(s), discussion of past trauma, the Order of the Sword was messed up</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 21:13:48</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,615</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26973451</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/madartiste/pseuds/madartiste</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Nero is reminded of a dark part of his past and finds that in sharing it he gets something precious in return.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kyrie/Nero (Devil May Cry), Nero &amp; Vergil (Devil May Cry)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>215</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Savior's Song</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This wasn't really intended to be a Dadgil story, but Dadgil is as Dadgil does, and it gets into everything.  The whole thing was born from reading a translation of the Deadly Fortune novels where it turns out that, hey, Nero's time in the Order was more messed up than the games actually show.  His particular job was to hunt down people who were possessed by demons and take them out without any witnesses.  After finding that out, I really couldn't not explore the topic.</p>
<p>Also Johnny Yong Bosch has a band and a very nice voice.  So here we go.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"<em>Finally</em>," Nero muttered.  He trudged up the stairs following Dante's leather clad back with Lady right behind him.</p>
<p>They'd been hunting this demon all over the city for three days, and it had taken their entire team to finally pin the damn thing down.  Trish and Vergil eventually trapped it in a condemned office building while Lady, Nero, and Dante cut off all other escape routes.  It was a wily son of a bitch, but they'd caught it.  Unfortunately, Nero had a sinking feeling that it was a pyrrhic victory.</p>
<p>Dante used his shoulder to shove open the rusting emergency door that led onto the 8th floor.  Inside, Vergil and Trish had regrouped by a pile of collapsed cubicle partitions and both looked up at the door's screeching. Nero could feel an aching pulse of an unfamiliar demonic presence and glanced over to the other side of the room where the devil snarled.  It was tied to a desk chair near the windows, and a circle of glowing runes chalked onto the bare concrete floor held it securely in place.</p>
<p>But Nero's heart sank a little further.  The demon still possessed that young woman, and he didn't like what he saw.</p>
<p>"I've got some bad news," Trish said.  She was never one to mince words when it came to something serious, a trait that he usually liked.</p>
<p>"It's too late, isn't it?" Nero said dejectedly.  Dante raised his eyebrows.</p>
<p>Trish nodded.  "I'm afraid so.  We were going to exorcise the demon, but it became clear that wasn't going to solve the problem the way we hoped..."</p>
<p>"You mind catching the rest of us up on what's going on?" Lady asked.  "We were running around cleaning up after that thing while you were up here, remember?"</p>
<p>Vergil was the one who answered.  "The host is too badly injured to survive an exorcism.  If we extract the demon--"</p>
<p>"She'll die," Nero finished.  The signs were there, the particular way her skin sagged around her eyes, an involuntary jittering of her muscles, the wavering of the demonic resonance in her voice.  He'd known it was too late but hadn't wanted to give up hope.  </p>
<p>"So, what do we do?" Dante asked</p>
<p>"Best thing is to kill the body in a way that keeps the demon from escaping," Nero told him, staring at the furious monster trying to thrash its way out of the chair.  "If we try to exorcise it, that'll give it a chance to slip back into the Underworld.  If the body dies with the demon sealed inside, there are ways to make sure that takes it out too.  Permanently."</p>
<p>He almost didn't notice the conspicuous silence of his companions, but they gave him some very odd looks when he glanced at them.  Nero tried not to squirm.</p>
<p>"I'll take care of it," he offered.</p>
<p>Dante's frown was sharp.  "Kid, I'm not sure you really--"</p>
<p>"Look, I know what to do."  Nero bent down and loosened the laces on his boot.  He hooked his fingers around the rear bolster of the dagger he kept in the ankle sheath before standing up again.  "It's not my first time."</p>
<p>"Wait.  What does that mean--?"  Vergil's hand planted firmly on his brother's shoulder stopped Dante from saying more.</p>
<p>"Only if you're certain you want to do this," Vergil said.</p>
<p>Nero exhaled slowly.  It wasn't that he <em>wanted</em> to do it.  He'd much rather bring the girl back alive to her family so he could pretend they'd all live happily ever after.  Sometimes things just didn't work out that way.</p>
<p>"Yeah, I'm sure," he said and held his free hand out to Trish.  "Mind if I borrow the chalk?"</p>
<p>Her face was neutral when she laid it into his palm, and he turned his back to them.  </p>
<p>His footsteps sounded too loud in the open space as he approached the demon.  They'd had a run in with each other earlier when the monster pushed a stroller holding a little kid out into oncoming traffic to distract Nero from chasing it.</p>
<p>The demon's borrowed lips grinned.  "Well, well, well.  If it isn't the boy scout.  I've got to admit, I figured your dear old <em>dad</em> would be the one to finish me off, but I guess he was never quite the same after Mundus got through with him.  Gotta send his baby boy in to clean things up."</p>
<p>An uncomfortable prickle ran up Nero's spine.  He didn't like how much the demons they fought seemed to know about him these days.  He kind of missed when they thought he was just another human.  "You talk big for someone caught in a sealing circle," Nero said.</p>
<p>It laughed at him, leaning back into the ratty office chair.  "It's really a shame you're a hybrid.  I wouldn't mind taking you for a spin."</p>
<p>"Yeah, I'll pass on the possession." Nero knelt and started adding runes to the circle.  He was careful not to disrupt the existing ones.</p>
<p>"What… Uh, what are you doing?" the demon asked.</p>
<p>The failing distortion of the devil's words set Nero's teeth on edge.  He could almost hear the girl's own voice underneath, cracking under the strain.  "I'm gonna guess that you think you'll escape when she dies, right?  That's why you're so cocky."  Nero glanced up and smiled grimly.  "Hate to break it to you, but that's not gonna happen."</p>
<p>"Oh?  And you think you can do something to stop me?"</p>
<p>Fresh runes pulsed and joined the glow of the others when he finished writing.  Tendrils of light wound into the center of the circle and up onto the tennis shoes the girl -- Amanda, Nero forced himself to think -- was wearing.</p>
<p>Nero set the chalk aside.  He stared up into hazel eyes from where he crouched and tried to look past the demon's malice to the human suppressed behind it.</p>
<p>"I'm sorry I can't save you," he said.  "But I can give you something else.  A little bit of revenge.  You'll take the monster that hurt you and your little sister with you when you go."</p>
<p>The demon laughed a little too high and loud, just nervous enough to boost Nero's determination.  "Com'on.  You're really gonna kill this girl?  Don't make me laugh.  You don't have what it takes."</p>
<p>Nero sprung to his feet and spun the chair around so it faced the window.  "It's a really beautiful sunrise, right?  Gonna be a nice day today.  Look at those colors."</p>
<p>"Hey, brat!" the demon snarled, trying to look at him over its shoulder.  "You think I give a shit about the scenery?  You'd better answer me or--"</p>
<p>"I'm not talking to you," Nero said.  His voice was quiet, but he must have put enough of an edge into it to shut the devil up.  "We'll make sure you get back to your family, Amanda.  I'll tell them that you died making sure this asshole can never hurt anyone again.  I'm sorry I can't do more for you."</p>
<p>"W-wait, hold on now," the demon said quickly.  "I have a lot of connections, you know.  I bet I could get you something you want, yeah?"</p>
<p>Nero ignored it and lay a hand on Amanda's shoulder.  "There's only one other thing I can do for you," he told her, hoping she could hear him.  "The way I'm going to do this will give you a few seconds as yourself again right before…  That's the best I can do."</p>
<p>"You can't do this!" the demon screeched, thrashing again against its bonds.  "You filthy little half-breed bastard!  Do you know who I am?!  If you think you can--"</p>
<p>The knife was swift and precise.  That's why Nero kept it after he left the Order.  It plunged through the mesh back of the chair, between her ribs, and into her heart at just the right angle.  She gasped in a painful sounding breath and held it for what he hoped was an eternity of retribution for her.</p>
<p>He felt a pulse of energy through the fingertips still settled on her shoulder.  An agonized demonic howl rattled inside his head, then the air escaped her lips along with a cloud of dark, unnatural ash that drifted to the floor in a pitiful spread.  As far as Nero could tell, those kinds of deaths were horrifically painful for demons.  He couldn't find it in himself to care.</p>
<p>Amanda stared out the window just as the sun crested the buildings, bathing the city with the expectant glow of a new day.  A tear trailed down her cheek before all the strength left her body.  There was only one thing left that Nero could do.</p>
<p>It came to him more easily than he wanted it to, the droning Latin of his youth.  This wasn't one of the psalms that the church used in its sermons and vespers.  Kyrie had taught it to him.  It was her favorite, and Nero in turn shared it with those he couldn't save.  He'd sung it too many times in his life to ever forget the mournful call for mercy.  For a moment Nero lost himself in the ebb and swell of the words, letting them twine around his tongue and out into the ether, hoping that, somehow, it would ease the soul's end.  </p>
<p>The last note faded away into the shadowy, dusty room, leaving silence behind.</p>
<p>Nero pulled the rag he used to clean demon guts off Red Queen from his pocket and swiped it down the dagger before putting it away in its boot sheath.  He wasn't sure what to expect when he turned back to the others, so he didn't look any of them in the eyes.</p>
<p>"Is there anything we can use for a shroud or something?" Nero asked.</p>
<p>Lady was the first to stir.  "I think I saw some drop cloths over there.  I'll grab one," she said, hiking Kalina Ann up on her shoulder.  She moved to go past him but stopped at the last moment.  "How did you know how to do that?"</p>
<p>And there it was, the question.</p>
<p>"That was my job as a knight," Nero said with as little inflection as he could manage.  "If the Order couldn't exorcise a demon when it possessed someone, I tracked it down and took them out without anyone else knowing."</p>
<p>Trish's eyebrows rose.  "That sounds like an assassin."</p>
<p>He shrugged but knew the fact he still wouldn't look at anyone probably made him seem less than nonchalant.  "If people thought the Order couldn't protect them, they might've started to lose faith in their leaders.  Sounds pretty stupid now considering what happened, but at least I could try to make their last moments--"</p>
<p>No.  He couldn't finish that sentence.  None of what he'd done had made a damn bit of difference.  Those people still died.</p>
<p>"You were nineteen when we met."  Dante's voice had a slight hoarseness to it that made Nero finally glance at him.  "How old were you when you first…?"</p>
<p>Nero knew he could lie right there and say he didn't remember, maybe cut the conversation off.  But he did remember.  He remembered it perfectly down to the nasty curses the demon hurled at him as Nero drove the very same dagger through its eye.</p>
<p>"Just turned sixteen," he said.</p>
<p>Something bleak passed over Dante's face, and Vergil blinked repeatedly.  Lady and Trish were too much in his peripheral vision for Nero to read their expressions clearly.  The way they watched him felt like needles pricking over his skin.</p>
<p>"I'll go grab that tarp," Lady muttered, her heavy boots moving away.  "Let's wrap this up and get the hell out of here."</p><hr/>
<p>In the end, they'd only been able to bring the body back to her family, but at least the outward damage was minimal at the moment.  Her funeral would have to be soon if they wanted an open casket.  Possession corrupted human bodies in ways that made them decay faster even with embalming.  Nero hadn't expected any thank you's, so he'd been shocked when Amanda's mother embraced him and cried into his shoulder after he told her a somewhat sanitized version of the truth.  </p>
<p>He'd never had to face the families back on Fortuna.  No one ever knew what he'd done other than Credo and a few of the Order leaders.  Even Kyrie only knew the barest facts, and, in her infinite kindness, she'd never pushed him for more because she knew he wasn't ready.</p>
<p>By the time they got back to the office, it was far too late for even Nico's crazy driving to make it to the ferry on time.  The mood was somber as hell, Lady and Trish taking off right after they were done with their part, and Nero declined Dante's offer of pizza.  He really didn't feel like eating and retreated up to the roof.  He sat on the edge until the sun was starting to dip low, casting long shadows through the mostly empty neighborhood streets.</p>
<p>It was almost possible to forget while he was up here, just for a little while.</p>
<p>A scrape of boots on the gravely surface reminded him his hiding place wasn't exactly a secret.  Nero had been expecting Dante to find him if anyone bothered to, so he did a double take when Vergil sat down next to him and held out a bottle of the shitty whiskey Dante kept around.</p>
<p>"My apologies that I don't have something of better quality," Vergil said, "but one must make do at times."</p>
<p>"Uh, thanks…"  Nero was dumbfounded by the gesture.  He wasn't used to Vergil reaching out to him, though his father always seemed receptive if Nero made the first move.  "But I'm good."</p>
<p>They fell into silence, Vergil unscrewing the cap of the bottle and lifting it to his lips.  Nero had thought he wanted to be alone but having someone next to him was kind of nice after the grueling day.  He turned his gaze back out to the sunset and considered how different the sky looked here in a mainland city.  Colors blushed across endless panes of glass windows, turning everything into mirrors of rose and gold.  </p>
<p>"The first time I killed a human, I was halfway through my twelfth year," Vergil said, and Nero's heart jumped into his throat.  "He was also possessed by a demon, sent by Mundus to kill me.  I was surprised that I didn't feel anything afterward.  I never even stopped to wonder if he might have had a family that would miss him or what kind of person he had been.  All I felt was satisfaction for having bested an opponent that wanted to take my life."</p>
<p>That wasn't what Nero had expected to hear.  Or maybe he had.  It sounded like the terrifying, cold-blooded man Nero had heard about from Lady.  On the other hand, right now that ruthless person was baring a sliver of his soul in an obvious effort to connect with his son.</p>
<p>But, fuck, <em>twelve?</em></p>
<p>Vergil took a long swig of whiskey before carefully setting it down again.  "The killing became much easier after that.  I didn't even bother to distinguish between humans and demons if they wished to attack me.  I had hoped you hadn't experienced the same in your childhood, but considering your eulogy for the host, I have to assume you never became so detached."  He finally looked at Nero, pulling his eyes away from the skyline.  "That… is a relief to me."</p>
<p>"I was good at it.  The killing."  Nero didn't know why he said that, only that he needed to share it right then and maybe make his father understand.</p>
<p>"Yes, I saw," Vergil said plainly.  "At one time I would have mocked you for the mercy you showed."</p>
<p>Nero recoiled slightly.  "<em>Mercy</em>?  I killed people.  Anyone I was told to, people that I later found out might've been turned into demons because of what the Order did!  How the fuck is that--"</p>
<p>"You saved them in the only way you could."  His father's stare left no room for anything else, and Nero choked on his long-held guilt.  "If they were indeed victims of the Order's machinations, there was no going back from that transformation.  You know that, so why do you hold on to this grief?"</p>
<p>Jaw clenching, Nero turned away.  He'd never been able to talk about this with anyone after Credo's death.  He'd heard over and over from the man who was his brother in all regards but blood that he'd given those people an honorable death, that he'd let them pass into the Savior's hands in their darkest hour.  What a joke.</p>
<p>"They still died," Nero said.</p>
<p>"They did," Vergil agreed.  He leaned forward into Nero's vision until he couldn't help but look at him again.  "And you mourned them as no one else could in the moment of their death.  What happened to them was a tragedy, but you shouldn't take those deaths as a failure on your part.  They would have suffered much more if you hadn't given them a swift escape."</p>
<p>"I know," Nero muttered.  Because he did.  He'd told himself these things so many times, but he probably would never shake the feeling of having committed a sin.  He wasn't sure he wanted to let it go at this point.  Someone needed to remember those people and the horror they'd suffered.</p>
<p>Vergil abruptly retreated, sitting up straight and going back to gazing at the city again.  It seemed he'd said what he wanted to say on the matter.  Or he was withdrawing until he found a better angle of attack.  "You have a wonderful voice, you know," he said.</p>
<p>That caught Nero off guard again, enough that he actually laughed.  "I think I'll have to question your taste in music."</p>
<p>"It's true," Vergil insisted.  The lightness in his tone felt a little false, but Nero was grateful for it anyway.  "Our mother was always fond of music.  It reminded me of her.  Perhaps you'll sing something else sometime."</p>
<p>"Maybe.  Just no more dirges or hymns."</p>
<p>His father inclined his head, edges of his mouth turning up.  "I think that would be agreeable.  Dante says Kyrie is a remarkable vocalist.  A duet, then?"</p>
<p>Nero snorted.  "Dante's right about Kyrie, but no way I could keep up with her.  She's leagues better than my shitty singing."</p>
<p>A beat passed, and he saw it coming in the calculation behind Vergil's eyes.  "Dante seemed surprised by all this.  I take it you didn't tell him?"</p>
<p>Nero felt like he'd just stuck his leg in a bear trap.  "I didn't want him to know."</p>
<p>"You were ashamed?"</p>
<p>"Not exactly," Nero hedged.  "I just didn't want to give him a reason to…"  He drifted off, not sure how to explain it in a way that didn't sound just as needy and desperate for approval as he'd been.</p>
<p>Dante was the first person like himself he'd ever met, and Nero hadn't been entirely blind to how similar their appearances were and what that might mean.  The thought of being rejected by this man he looked up to, someone who might be <em>family</em>, had been terrifying in a way he was wholly unfamiliar with.  </p>
<p>Vergil was quiet for a few heartbeats, letting the unfinished sentence lie before he said, "He wanted to believe you had a peaceful life on Fortuna before you met him."</p>
<p>"It mostly was, I guess.  Better than being hunted by a vengeful demon king."</p>
<p>"Better… I wonder."  His father watched him out of the corner of his eye.  "Kyrie described your childhood as one of isolation and scorn by the other islanders.  That doesn't sound so much better."</p>
<p>Nero tried to shrug nonchalantly while fumbling to grab the neck of the whiskey bottle Vergil had set aside.  This was all getting too close to where he was raw.  "I wasn't alone like you guys were.  I had people around me."  The liquor burned his throat, and he remembered why he so rarely drank.</p>
<p>"And yet it's possible to be 'alone even in a sea of people.'"</p>
<p>Shit.  Kyrie had really repeated that corny line to his father of all people?  Nero would never live it down.  "I made it through."</p>
<p>Vergil's lips quirked.  "As did I," he said.  "That would make mere survival a poor indication of quality of life."</p>
<p>It was hard to deny that.  Nero took another drink and nearly gagged when he got too large of a mouthful.  Vergil plucked the bottle out of his hand before he could drop it but politely didn't comment on the coughing.</p>
<p>Once he had his wind back, Nero found he couldn't bring himself to meet his father's gaze again.  "I don't know what you want me to say.  That my life sucked.  That it didn't.  That I was asked to murder people who might've been innocent, but I shouldn't feel bad about it?  What do you want to hear from me?"</p>
<p>There was a long pause.  Nero saw the bottle leave the corner of his vision for a few seconds and heard the exhale after Vergil took another drink.  The glass made a heavy <em>thunk</em> on the roof.  </p>
<p>"Everything," Vergil said quietly, and Nero looked up in confusion to see pale blue eyes focused on him.  "I want to hear everything about you.  There's so much I don't know, so much that I… missed."</p>
<p>Nero's mouth was suddenly dry, but he managed to clear his throat enough to speak again.  "Where should I start?"</p>
<p>His father smiled then, a <em>real</em> one that curled his mouth and dimpled his cheeks.  It ignited something warm in Nero's chest.  "Why not at the beginning?"</p>
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